The Catalyst

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It’s no secret that when it comes to the Affordable Care Act, health insurance exchange coverage varies depending on where you live. From the plans offered, to premiums, to the type of Marketplace, not every state looks alike.

That’s why we created state-by-state fact sheets on health insurance exchange coverage and access to prescription medicines across the country.

In the guest blog below, Michele Lloyd-Puryear, Special Consultant to Genetic Alliance, discusses key findings from a patient-driven data collection effort intended to complement the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) patient-focused drug development initiative which was part of the most recent reauthorization of the Prescription Drug User Fee Act.

Aging is a fact of life but the good news is that life expectancy continues to climb and more and more Americans are living fuller, richer lives thanks in large part to innovative medicines being developed by biopharmaceutical companies. As the baby boomer generation reaches retirement age, the demands on our health care system will continue to rise due to the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases affecting seniors.

A recent Roundtable in Washington D.C. underscored why, with the growing focus on value-based payment in health care, it’s more important than ever to focus on the patient. We can’t advance patient-centered care if we aren’t measuring and incentivizing what matters to patients. We have begun to see this shift in the premarket arena via patient-focused drug development and in comparative effectiveness research at the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute.

Over the last three years, I have had two c-sections – one for the birth of my 3-year old daughter and the other for the birth of my six-month old twins. Fortunately, I have good health insurance coverage through my employer and didn’t have to pay a lot out of pocket for these necessary procedures. The more than $20,000 price tag for the single procedure was almost fully covered and I was happy that I could focus all of my attention on my newborn babies rather than figure out how I’m going to pay my bills.

For our nation’s most vulnerable patients, access to necessary medicines to treat and even cure the diseases they are battling every day is critical. Improved patient health relies on the innovative treatments, and this week we focused on the importance of ensuring those medicines make it into the hands of patients in need.

Keeping the spirit of innovation alive in the oncology field is paramount to future scientific advances and finding cures. An essential element of innovation is collaboration. Relevant stakeholders coming together and pooling collective knowledge together can ignite the fire that becomes the next big thing to improve the lives of cancer patients.

PhRMA President and CEO John J. Castellani recently joined several patient organizations to raise concerns about patients’ access to medicines in the new health insurance exchanges. They discussed findings from a new report by Avalere, commissioned by PhRMA, which shows that many patients, particularly those with chronic disease, are facing exorbitant out-of-pocket costs to access the prescription medicines they need to manage their conditions.

All patients should have access to the medicines they need to manage their diseases, enabling them to live fuller, healthier, more productive lives. Unfortunately, recently-released data paints a very troubling picture of patients’ access to medicines in the new health insurance exchanges. Too often patients are being forced to pay exorbitant out-of-pocket costs for live-saving medicines that not only improve patients’ health and quality of life, but help prevent unnecessary hospitalizations, ER visits, and costly medical procedures.

As you read this, 30 outstanding middle school students from across the nation are busy studying amino acids, chromatography, and other scientific concepts in preparation for the National You Be The Chemist Challenge®—the final stage of the Chemical Educational Foundation’s® (CEF’s) exciting academic contest for grade 5 – 8 students.

For millions of cancer patients and many others suffering from a chronic disease, access to new innovative treatments is critical. As an industry, we strongly believe that all patients should have access to the medicines they need to live long and healthy lives. Equally important, as discussions around health care costs continue, we must ensure that patients remain at the center of everything we do.

With the recent conclusion of ASCO, we sat down with Josh Schafer, Astellas’ Vice President of Oncology Marketing Strategy, to get his perspective on the current state of affairs surrounding cancer research.